Global Thinking through Youth Activism
同志社女子高等学校

２年

建野花

I am 17years old. Every day, I go to school, study, talk with my friends,and during lunch break I have a delicious lunch box my mother made. WhenI go back home, I see my father, mother, and brothers. I live happily andsafely with my family. Walking on the street, I see that most people havesmartphones. Our daily lives in Japan today are comfortable, convenient, andsafe. However, only 75 years ago, our daily lives were completely different.
1945, 75 years ago, was the year World War II ended. Do you know “thespecial attack corps”? In Japanese, it is called “tokkotai”. At the end of World

later Okinawa were frequently hit by air raids. Therefore, a special attack
strategy was planned in order to protect the mainland from ground combat.
This attack was that each soldier in the special attack corps was put on afighter plane equipped with a bomb weighing 250kg. They were trained to fly
into enemy ships. It was a suicide attack. How old do you think they were?
Cruelly, many of them were only 17 to 19 years old. When I heard that for
the first time, I could not sleep well. I could not believe the boys of my age
had died such a cruel death. I saw one picture. There were five boy soldiers
playing with a puppy the day before they made an attack. They had natural
innocent smiles as though they did not know they would die tomorrow. If you
knew you would die tomorrow, could you smile like that? I don’t think I
could.
Some would say that the soldiers who fought in the war were so bravethat they were not afraid of death, but I don’t think this is true. Not everyone
could smile in the face of death. Before the attack, some soldiers in thebarracks cried in the middle of night, wrapped in their blanket and shaking
their shoulders. One soldier wrote in his farewell note to a loved one, “Morethan anything, I want to see you and talk to you.” Just like us, the boys had
hopes and dreams, but they sacrificed their lives. They didn’t do this because

43

高校生―Ｄ部門

War II, the Japanese troops continued to lose. The Japanese mainland andthey were brave, they did this because they believed it was necessary forpeace. If I could meet them, I would convey my sincere gratitude for theirdetermination despite the horror and cruelty of war.
Why did many young boys have to sacrifice their lives? I think it was due
to Japanese Nationalism. With a commitment to victory in Japan and toprotect our traditional values, Japan forced young people to sacrifice theirlives for this cause. However, this way of thinking does not exist only in thepast. There are many countries in the world now that are adopting nationalist
ways of thinking. They only seek to further their own interests, and act withhostility towards other countries. Rather than seeking the interests of yourown country, you have to expand your horizons to the world. Greta Thunberg,
17-year-old, is working with people around the world to control global
warming to make the global environment better. Nakamura Tetsu went to
高校生―Ｄ部門

dangerous Afghanistan and built canal drain for communities in need at theexpense of his life. We should take action like them to create a better world.
Now that we have smartphones, we can do many things with them, andwhen we get sick, there are medicines to cure us. What would you do withthem, knowing that there are still many people who do not have these things,and like soldiers in special attack corps, many young people sacrifice theirlives because of war? Are you really satisfied with your life if only you aresatisfied? I believe that there are many things we can do because we live inJapan, a developed country. In order for countries to help each other andcreate a wonderful world, each of us have to act while thinking about theworld we live in. We must learn about the current state of the world throughTV and newspapers, and be conscious of supporting other countries. Let’s
create a world where all people can smile.

44